Methane photochemistry: A brief review in the frame of a new experimental program of Titan's atmosphere simulations

As methane is the main precursor of Titan's chemistry, its photolytic behaviour is of great importance for the understanding of Titan's atmospheric system. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to present a critical review about available laboratory methane photolysis results. The way these results are further exploited in photochemical models of Titan's atmosphere is also discussed, as those models may lead to different and sometimes contradictory conclusions. Following this literature discussions, pertinent aspects of a new experimental project for a re-examination of methane photochemistry in the frame of new Titan's atmospheric simulations are also described.